Category: Emily

Fri., May 8th – I’m really not sure what I did this day. I tweeted that I “hate Home Depot already” LOL but I don’t remember what I did there. Obviously got more “last minute” things for the living room but I don’t remember what. I know for sure I got my Mother’s Day shopping done at JC Penny, where I got some great deals because I had two coupons and everything was on sale to top it off! I got myself two basic fitted T’s. I’m happy to say the size Medium one fits loose! Woo!

I spent the rest of that day lounging around the house with the kiddos and surfing the web when the littlest ones let me.

Sat., May 9th – I was waiting on two Re-ment sets I bought; one for Mom, one for Mary that I was giving them along with their blouses for Mother’s Day. I was so pissed to go to the mailbox around noon and find 3 “sorry we missed you” notes telling me to go to the Post Office to pick them up. I checked the time. They close at 12:30 and I had 15 minutes to get there. Thank goodness we live 3 minutes away.

Well, I get there and what do you know? They decided to go home early that day. Grr. I had no choice but to give the moms that part of their gift a day late.

The boys and I made Gramma some beaded bracelets for Mother’s Day because that’s what she asked for. It’s a perfect gift because she’s got tons of clothes and we can only buy her so many chocolates or decorations for her walls. The boys did a great job and Gramma loved them! We gave her 3 and she joked that we owed her two: one from Alaethia, one from Emily LOL.

Elda graciously watched Alaethia for us, since I didn’t think she’d hold her pee the half hour to Gramma’s and back. I took her potty chair and a Princess bag with coloring books and extra panties over to Elda’s. She said she did wonderfully.

After visiting Gramma we went to Walmart. It’s always tough shopping with the boys because they put in double the amount of stuff I usually buy. But we all behaved ourselves and I stayed within my budget. I got some cleaning supplies for the hardwood floors and a washable microfiber broom and other things for cleaning. I wasn’t sure exactly what to get so I prayed that the Pledge hardwood/laminate floor cleaner would be okay.

I got home and Big Mario had already put up both doors and was about to start working on removing the covers for the central air. It took about half an hour for the room to cool. I started mopping the tiled floors and then swept the laminate wood floors in the living room with the microfiber cloth broom. Alaethia found the box of Swiffer dusters and said, “I’m gonna help.”

She had fun following me around being a little “mama” :).

Mario got home and was immediately hyped up about getting everything into the room that night. He began moving all the wiring for the surround sound from the old living room to the new one. Now we have holes all over the walls; reminds me of Swiss cheese…

As he was beginning to install everything in the new room they sent me to Walmart (again) for some more stuff like light bulbs, filters for the a/c, a power supply and other stuff like that. I took Jaylen with me and man he was moody because he was sleepy. He ended up falling asleep in the shopping cart.

It was 11:30 by the time I got home and Mario was fixing up the recessed lights. Jose, Elda, my dad-in-law, Mom, Adan and Tommy were all here with us, helping us with the furniture relocation. (Mary wasn’t here because she and Noelia were at the George Strait concert at Dodge Arena!)

It was 12am when we got the rest of the furniture in and my dad-in-law tells me, “Happy Mother’s Day!” and gives me a hug. He says, “I wasn’t going to rest today until we had you moved in on Mother’s Day.” I almost couldn’t say thank you due to the huge lump in my throat. What other father-in-law builds you a house to be near his kids and grandkids? What other aunts/uncles/cousins are at your house at 12am helping move furniture or helping you watch the kids while you clean up? I can’t tell you how blessed I feel to be a part of this family!

We sat with everyone once the sofas were in and just took it all in. We had a fab new living room! Mary got home and all the moms were wished a Happy Mother’s Day and everyone started leaving little by little after that since it was late. Adan hung out with us for a while and Mario and I stayed up till 4am till we got everything just right.

Sun., May 10th – We woke up and got ready to go eat at Lotus, where Jorge was treating all the moms–aww :). I had broccoli beef and for the first time ever had dumplings! They’re so good! I need to find a recipe.

Since Mario and I are pretty familiar with using chopsticks, we asked for some. They brought us a whole bunch and all the kids had a blast trying to eat with them :). We had a really good time.

Our next stop was the movies. We watched Wolverine. Really good movie. I liked it much better than I thought I would (isn’t that usually the case?).

I checked my e-mail that day and didn’t expect to find an e-mail from my “new” uncle. He asked if I’d gotten any info from Gramma and I e-mailed back that I did and explained what she told me. For some reason I understood that she said my grandfather never knew about my mom. It’s hard to understand her since she has a speech impediment. I wasn’t sure about that tidbit of info but I told him about it anyway. He’d asked before if his dad knew about Mom and he made it seem when I spoke to him 2 years ago that he did, but Gramma had just said he didn’t. I was confused. He’d asked if Mom was in the yearbooks since they were close in age, but since Mom didn’t get to finish high school because they gave her the duty of staying with Gramma after she got sick from Polio she wouldn’t be in any of them. I was iffy about sending a pic of her, but I did and asked him if she resembled any of them. I’d forgotten to mention earlier than mom’s got three more siblings: the uncle I’m speaking to, another brother and a sister! He also e-mailed back to wish us all a Happy Mother’s Day, aww :). I couldn’t wait to hear more from him. I really want to meet this side of my family!

Tues., May 5th – I got the boys ready for school and stayed awake to search online for the perfect new upgrade to my Kodak Z650. Mario had been trying since Christmas to get me to find myself a new camera but I just felt way too guilty. Since Mother’s Day was coming up he told me, again, to pick out a camera for him to buy me. He said this time he wasn’t going to stop bugging until I got one so I said fine, if you insist, heh.

I originally wanted a 12MP Kodak with 15x zoom like Noelia and Andy’s (I forget what the actual name was), but I found an even more awesome one searching through Walmart.com! The Kodak Easyshare Z980. I fell in love. 12MP with 24x optical zoom?? Heaven!

Even though I shouldn’t have, I applied for the Walmart credit card because I’d feel better (i.e. not guilty for buying myself something so extravagant) giving monthly payments on it (with no interest!) than just slapping $400 on the counter in the store. Mario pushed me to get next-day shipping, which added $14 to the final purchase of $400.16. I loved the reviews I read all over the web about this camera; people compared it to Nikons and Canons that cost $1,000 more!

Emily was kind of grouchy that day and wouldn’t stay with Mom for anything. I don’t know what it is about Mom, or if it’s just that she is that attached to me, but she just doesn’t like Mom sometimes LOL.

Since it was Mario’s day off I went with him to Home Depot to get a few more “final” things for the living room; this time the materials for the doors. How many times have I said that already; that we’re getting the final things? LOL It’s never-ending with home improvement projects. Anyway, Mario was having a fit because he couldn’t find the proper door jambs and thresholds we needed for the doors. His way to do things is: if you can’t do/find something, you give up and stop/leave. That’s not how I roll. I searched and searched until I found the right parts, even though he kept threatening to leave me. Grr.

As for the potty training, Alaethia did somewhat okay. I feared leaving her behind with Mom while we went to Home Depot because I was afraid Mom would be too busy with Emily and Alaethia would have an accident. I sort of banned her from the living room because I was afraid she pee/poop on the sofa or rug LOL. She did have a few accidents, about 2 while we were at Home Depot and 1 poo accident. She left a nice dollop next to her potty chair. Lovely.

I spent that night updating my entries from the first week of April (right now, it’s July 9th and I’m barely updating for May, ha!) so I went to sleep pretty late. It was becoming the norm to sleep late, though. I’m just glad the girls are on my schedule and that Emily’s a pretty darn good sleeper for being 2 1/2 months!

Wed., May 6th – At this point I don’t even remember if I even got up to make Mario breakfast before he left to work that morning, but I do know for sure that I slept in till around 11am. I only woke up at that time because Elvira, my old co-worker and good friend, called my cell telling me she was driving around La Joya looking for my house. I literally sprang out of bed and washed up, brushed my teeth and hair, put on some decent clothes and frantically picked up toys and clothes and flung them into my bedroom. My dishes from the night before were in the sink and the floor wasn’t mopped. Why do I always get company when the house looks like hell, yet when I clean no one bothers to come over?!

Anyway, I apologized for my mess and was so glad for her company. We caught up on goings-on at work, I told her about labor/delivery and how wonderful Emily is and she told me about her daughter’s appointment in Houston about her seizures. Unfortunately the news wasn’t what they’d hoped for, so Sabrina would have to continue with her meds, which Elvira wasn’t happy about giving her since there are so many. I have to say, I admire Elvira; she has so much on her plate yet she’s always doing for everyone else and is always cheerful.

Elvira visited for 2 hours and left back to work so she could pick up Sabrina on time. Alaethia was well-behaved during the visit and even hammed it up and took pictures with Elvira and Emily.

She had two pee-pee accidents that morning. I didn’t know what to do to get her to stop peeing everywhere. I even went so far as to read back my old entries from when I was potty-training Eenan and Jaylen to see if I could get any ideas! I tried being patient with her, but oh my gosh, I was boiling inside. I didn’t know what to do!

As I was checking my e-mail I heard something on Headline News about Jon & Kate. I turned up the volume and couldn’t believe what I heard: he really was cheating! I followed this show from the first episode–no, from the first special they had about the sextuplets. I never really get into celebrity news, but I just love this show because it was sweet and it showed them doing regular family stuff and discipline (her kids actually stay in time out, what?!) so I was really heartbroken when I realized their marriage might just not make it with all the tabloid fodder and Jon’s behavior in general. See what I mean about getting into it? LOL

Anyway, upon checking my e-mail I noticed my camera would arrive sometime that afternoon! Woo! I took Emily with me to Mary’s house since I’d see the UPS truck better from over there and waited. Alaethia stayed here at home with Mom since her potty chair was in her room since she wasn’t making it all the way to the bathroom when it was in there. I was at Mary’s for about half an hour when I asked Mom to come over and wait with the girls (and the potty chair, heh) at Mary’s for the UPS guy because I had to pick up the boys. I asked Mom how Alaethia was doing and she said she’d gone in the potty each time she needed to pee and even pooped once! I guess she just needed a break from my “OH MY GOD!’s” when I’d find her drenched in her pee. Mom’s got a more gentle approach LOL.

I spent 2 hours perched on Mary’s sofa waiting for my package. I’d just tweeted at 5:59 about how impatient I was becoming and how I had to get dinner started when the UPS truck drove up at 6:01. I was so excited! My baby was here!

I couldn’t even walk the few feet it would take to get to my house; I opened everything up right then and there at Mary’s. Of course immediately after I stuffed everything back in the box and went straight to my room to start trying out the settings. This was shot from across my room, no joke. Look at how clear it looks!

The macro feature was amazing, and even more-so because it’s got a macro x2 feature! And the video! It’s HD quality and you can zoom in and out WHILE filming!

OK, enough of that, heh.

I’d taken Alaethia’s potty chair into the bathroom to get her used to going in there. She’d been doing great that whole day, ever since she was with Mom in the afternoon. She got a little excited though and kept asking to go pee because she was liking flushing the toilet LOL.

We got some awesome news that night. Chris and Nancy, after 4 years of marriage and trying those 4 years, finally conceived!! I’m so so happy for them and wish them all the best. It’s going to be so cute when Nancy finally shows because she’s super tiny! She’s even shorter than I am and much thinner!

Before I went to bed that night I ordered more Re-Ment sets! My Mother’s Day gift from Mom. And of course she ordered some for herself LOL. I ordered the Strawberry Picnic set, Strawberry Breakfast set, Antique Japanese set and the Old Fashioned Tableware set. I can’t wait to get them!

Thrus., May 7th – I heard a noise in the middle of the night (well, around 4am, really) and saw Alaethia get up and very sleepily used her potty. I took the potty chair into my bedroom just in case, and thank God I did. She was so cute; she kinda swayed back and forth with her eyes closed while she sat on the toilet, did her business and stumbled back into bed. It was the cutest thing ever!

Who knows if I woke up and turned off the alarm and went back to bed or if it didn’t go off at all, but I woke Mario up late for work. I hate when that happens because he’s running around muttering under his breath and I just feel all guilty and uncomfortable. Then I’m worried that he’s going to speed to get to work on time and get into a wreck or something, God forbid. When I called him later, though, he said he was a minute late but nothing dramatic happened.

Alaethia woke up nice and dry, I’m so proud of her. She’s got the general idea of potty training already, which means that it only took her 3 days to become potty trained! Keep in mind that this was the third time teaching her, though LOL.

I picked the boys up from school and they gave me their handmade gifts :). Jaylen gave me a cute tea pot card with a Lipton tea packet (aw!) and this cute card:

And Eenan gave me a poem with magnets on the back to put on the fridge and this awesome canvas painting!!

I need to find a nice frame for it and display it in the kitchen!

While I had all the kiddos there (the boys are hard to catch with the girls because they’re always outside playing) and took this picture with my new camera:

I can’t even articulate how absolutely blessed I feel. I love my babies! And my husband! And just everyone!

Just as I suspected, when I uploaded pictures to Flickr, it took an eternity! I can only download 10 or so pictures at a time at 12MP compared to around 50 6MP from my old Z650 camera.

One of the times Alaethia had to go to the bathroom she opened up the vanity doors and started messing with stuff under there. Gotta remember to get some cabinet locks. She started screaming when I took my nail polish bag away from her. She crossed her arms and yelled, “I’m running away!” I watched her to see what she would do and she did indeed run away…to my in-laws’ next door just like Eenan did when he was almost 3 LOL. Hilarious.

I spent the rest of the night cleaning up my desk. It’s insane how much crap I have.

Wed., Apr. 29th – I’d been anticipating the coming of April 29th probably even more than my birthday. On April 29th the Peñitas Walmart finally opened, which meant no more 30 minute trips to Sharyland for groceries or other necessities! It meant being able to go and buy milk, bread or any other things you may realize you need late at night. It meant faster trips and less headaches!

John and I’d made a date to go to the Grand Opening at 11:00am. Mom stayed with the girls while we went. (I can’t remember if I took Emily that morning or not.) There wasn’t much going on, so I figured we either missed everything or the events weren’t scheduled till later. We saw a few characters, like Elmo and Cookie Monster, the Twinkie guy, Hygeia Milk guy LOL, and a few others I can’t remember. We walked around, memorizing the new layout, trying out samples (we practically ate lunch there LOL) and of course, buying just a few things. They made a big ol’ deal about how this new Walmart was going to be a more “Hispanic” Walmart, which stirred up a bit of controversy of course, but the only big “Hispanic” difference was the new treat shop called “Flor de Michoacan”. They were supposedly going to be shipping Mexican products over here and selling them to keep business here instead of having people travel to Mexico, but I didn’t see any different products other than the few things in the “Latino” section LOL. It’s much brighter than the other Walmarts I’ve seen, the isles are much spacier, there’s an arcade (not that I’d let the boys wander off on their own), and the layout’s much more convenient. All toiletries, groceries, and cosmetics are on one side, while electronics, toys and housewares are on the other side. I really like it.

John and I went home and when I picked the kids up from school Mom, all the kids and I made another trip to Walmart so they could all check it out. All the festivities were over by the time we took the kids, which sucked. The only character the kids got to see was Chester Cheetah, and Alaethia was terrified of him. She screamed, “No! That’s not the Cheeto kitty!” when I was coaxing her to calm down.

Some NBA star was going to show up to sign autographs and a band was setting up outside, but we were all tired and the boys were getting antsy. So we just went home.

When Mario got home we made another trip to Home Depot to get a few more odds and ends for the living room, like the door knobs and deadbolts. We tried looking for Germ-X and masks, but like Walmart, they were completely sold out, too. Everyone was truly panicking over the swine flu.

We got home and I spent time with the girlies while searching for Re-ment stuff on Ebay. Ever since I saw Rachel’s Re-ment pics on Flickr, I became somewhat obsessed LOL. I’d ordered the Merry Strawberry Fondue set and once I had it in my hands it was all downhill. I want them ALL!

Mario and I chilled out on the patio waiting for Jason. We kept debating whether we should buy a mallet and a hand saw since Mario was having a difficult time installing the laminate wood floors without them the night before. Mario spoke to Jason, who just so happened to be at Walmart and he was picking up a saw for us. Adan, Aide and Belle came over and lent us their rubber mallet and Mario and I got started on the floors. We decided that no matter what, we were going to finish that night.

My job, aside from making sure we didn’t have any repeating wood-grain patterns, was to figure out how to lay the actual planks. Mario was the muscle who installed them. It took me a while, but my math skills finally kicked in and I figured out how to lay the planks without cutting too much and wasting the wood. In some rows we didn’t even have to cut anything away. I’m a genius!

We started around 10:00pm and finished around 2am. Mom, bless her, stayed watching Emily and Alaethia while we worked. Alaethia, out of nowhere, started sniffling and was moody. She stayed awake till we were done. We went straight to bed when we were done. We were exhausted but it paid off!

Right as I was tucking Alaethia into bed I remembered that I had laundry in the washing machine. I told her I’d be right back as she nodded off into sleep. I tossed the clothes into the dryer as quickly as possible because I had this weird feeling; a bad feeling. I ran inside and into my room and found poor Alaethia covered in vomit. I was thinking the worst: was this the dreaded swine flu? I wrapped up her sheets and placed a towel on her bed and the trash can next to it. I gave her a quick bath and I washed my hands and Lysoled everything. Just as I was wondering what the heck could have caused her to get sick, she started heaving again. I didn’t know what to do; she was so scared that she was swallowing desperately, trying not to throw up again. I couldn’t help but feel nauseous myself. I didn’t sleep very much that night worrying about her. She woke up two more times after that.

Thurs., Apr. 30th – Mario and I celebrated our 12-year “All Together Anniversary”. I couldn’t believe it’d been 12 years since that day he’d tried tricking me into telling him I liked him and he called me and asked, “Can I have a crush on you?” I still get all tingly thinking about it after all these years :).

I waited for the boys to get out of school and took Alaethia and Jaylen to the doctor. Alaethia hadn’t developed a fever, so that was good. Jaylen had a lingering cough and I didn’t know if it was allergies or not so I thought it best to take him in. I was so not looking forward to being at the doctor’s office for 3 hours like that last time, but it had to be done. At least I could start reading “Breaking Dawn”. That’s one thing I realized about being at the doctor’s office: that was when I’d actually get ahead in reading, I was there so long LOL.

I read while Jaylen and Alaethia played with the toys. I don’t usually like them to play with the toys there, because tons of other sick kids had been playing with them throughout the day, but I had an arsenal of antibacterial items since the whole Swine Flu thing.

Amazingly, we were only there for 40 minutes. Jaylen just had a slight cough and Alaethia didn’t have any type of flu (or cold or anything for that matter), so that was a big relief. I still wonder why she got sick, though?

Later that evening, Jason came over and I went with him and Mario (while Mom stayed with the girls, Mary had the boys) to the new Walmart. They got beer and munchies and I got some Jack Daniel’s Down Home Punch drinks. They were okay, but not as good as the watermelon ones. I can’t find those darn watermelon ones anywhere!

When we got back, we watched TV and I surfed the web while the girls slept. Then the guys (Mario, Jason, Adan) started playing Call of Duty 4, so that was my cue to go to bed LOL.